Cyberattack on Port:

'Iran crossed a red line - Israel had to respond'

Israeli cyberattack on Iranian port was retaliation for Iranian attack on Israel, Western source says. 'Iran crossed a red line.'

David Rosenberg , 19/05/20 11:44

Port (archive)

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A cyber-attack on an Iranian port attributed to Israel was carried out in retaliation for a similar attack by Iran on an Israeli target, according to a report by Channel 12 Tuesday morning.

Hours after The Washington Post published a report Monday evening claiming that Israel was responsible for a May 9th cyber-attack on the Shahid Rajee terminal at the Bandar Abbas port in Iran, Channel 12 reported that a Western source not only confirmed that Israel was indeed behind the May 9th attack, but explained Israel’s reasoning behind the cyber-strike.

The source told Channel 12 that the May 9th cyber-attack on Iran was carried out in response to an attack Iran launched in late April.

“Israel carried out the attack. Iran had crossed a red line, and Israel had to respond,” the source said.

“The cyber-attack on the Bandar Abbas port in Iran was Israel’s response to the cyber-attack that [Iran] had carried out against Israel two weeks ago against the water infrastructure – an attack which failed.”

“The Israelis are hoping that the Iranians stop here. They [the Iranians] attacked the water infrastructure; they didn’t do much damage, but they crossed a red line and [the Israelis] were obliged to respond.”

Israeli Air Force Major General (Res.) Amos Yadlin, who currently leads Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, tweeted Tuesday morning that the cyber-attack on the Shahid Rajee terminal in Bandar Abbas appeared to be an Israeli retaliation for the attempted cyber-attack on Israel’s water system.

“It looks like this was an Israeli response to the Iranian attack on the Israeli water and sewer system.”

Earlier this month, it was reported that Iran was behind an attempted cyber-attack on Israel’s water infrastructure network, and that the attack had been launched through American servers.

A senior official at the US Dept. of Energy “reiterated the Trump administration’s commitment to protecting America and its allies against these sorts of attacks.”

"This is an attack which defies all [ethical] codes, even in war. Even from the Iranians, we did not expect such a thing. This is an attack which it's forbidden to conduct,” a senior Israeli official said at the time.